Open Minds

Rowan University 3/9/2019

Everyone knows someone dealing with a mental health issue, they just don’t know who, because we don’t tell you.

The media is full of caricatures and extremes – crazy funny, crazy scary or celebrities misbehaving. We don’t see all of those who manage, who work to seem “normal,” and the struggles they face when plans and pills fail. There isn’t much upside in ‘coming out’ but until we do, stigma and misunderstanding will remain. Open Minds gives voice to people with mental health challenges and the people who love and care about them. Here are minds laid bare, in the hopes of opening the minds of others.

The Rowan University Concert Choir sang Open Minds March 9, 2019.

See Intro. Open Minds starts at 31:45

Thank you so much to all of the choir for their skill and the heart they put into this piece. Thank you to Dr. Christopher Thomas for taking a chance on a new work, sight unseen, and having the courage to choose Forgiven in the first place. And thank you to Rob Redei for being the best kind of partner — one who says no, we can do better. And we did.

Open Minds was commissioned by the Rowan University Concert Choir and its Artistic Director, Dr. Christopher B. Thomas through a generous gift by Ellen and Melanie Bartlett in memory of E. Page Bladen.